Landfill death ruling reversed

Thursday

Jan 17, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 17, 2013 at 12:09 PM

The family of a man killed by a county landfill truck in 2010 may receive a settlement in his death after a state appeals court recently overturned a trial court’s ruling to dismiss a wrongful death claim against Cleveland County.

Jessica Pickens

The family of a man killed by a county landfill truck in 2010 may receive a settlement in his death after a state appeals court recently overturned a trial court’s ruling to dismiss a wrongful death claim against Cleveland County.

Travis Kidd, 24, died in February 2010 after being hit and killed by a trash compactor while working as a temporary employee at the Cleveland County landfill.

Kidd’s mother, Sheila Gregory, filed a workers compensation claim with the N.C. Industrial Commission and collected entitled benefits under the N.C. Workers Compensation Act, according to an opinion filed by the N.C. Court of Appeals.

In August 2011, Gregory filed a complaint against Barry Pearson, a full-time county employee and driver of the trash compactor, that Kidd’s death was wrongful and a result of negligence.

“Pearson was sued first as an individual, because we didn’t think we could sue the county,” said James Roane, a Greensboro lawyer handling the claim for Gregory. “You usually cannot sue a county, because they have government immunity.”

However, Roane said, since the county landfill makes millions of dollars every year, the county was not immune from a lawsuit.

Cleveland County Manager Eddie Bailes deferred comment about the case to William A. Bulfer and Rebecca Rausch of Teague Campbell Dennis & Gorham of Asheville, attorneys representing the county.

Those representatives did not return multiple calls from The Star seeking comment for this story.

In March 2012, a trial court dismissed Gregory’s complaints and said Kidd was already covered by Workers Compensation.

“In March, they moved to dismiss the case based on a lack of subject matter and that you can’t sue an employer, you can only file worker’s compensation,” Roane said. “The county’s contract says that temp employees do not receive compensation or benefits, so that is why they lost.”

The N.C. Court of Appeals reversed the trial court’s dismissal of the case Dec. 31.

“Travis’s mother has told me over and over that she wants to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone again,” Roane said.

If Gregory wins the case, it would be a high-dollar settlement, Roane said.

“They received about $50,000 from workers compensation,” he said. “The workers compensation would be repaid and come out of the settlement.”

The settlement comes out of a risk pool where money is pulled together by the county to pay for claims. It does not come straight from the county, Roane said.

“We aren’t allowed to disclose the amount due to a North Carolina law that was changed 15 years ago,” Roane said. “We are only allowed to plead in excess from $10,000. It was a 24-year-old kid that died though, so it will be substantial.”

Reach Jessica Pickens at 704-669-3332 or jpickens@shelbystar.com. Follow on Twitter at @StarJPickens.